The many upcoming Xbox exclusive games will have a new leader by December, as the head of Xbox Game Studios and Turn 10 founder Alan Hartman is retiring from the company after a 36-year career. Rare boss Craig Duncan will become the head of Xbox Game Studios following Hartman’s departure at the end of November.Xbox Game Studios boss and Turn 10 founder Alan Hartman is leaving Microsoft”Being a Studio Head in Gaming is one of the most rewarding and challenging roles in entertainment,” Alan Hartman said on LinkedIn. “I believe it is the best job at Microsoft. I always knew we had immense talent across XGS, but I didn’t realize how much I would enjoy spending time with our studio leaders and their teams. It has been an honor to represent XGS, and I truly mean this — a pleasure getting to spend time with all of our studios.”I am proud of what we have accomplished together and I am excited by what we have in the pipe! Avowed, Clockwork Revolution, Fable, Gears of War E-Day, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, South of Midnight, and many more announced and still to be announced games. I have so much anticipation and confidence in what all of our studios are creating and I am excited by what these teams will accomplish with Craig Duncan as the new Head of Xbox Game Studios.”After almost 14 years leading Rare, Craig Duncan will succeed Hartman as the head of Xbox Game Studios, reporting to president of game content and studios Matt Booty, and overseeing the teams at Compulsion Games, Double Fine, Halo Studios, InXile, Ninja Theory, Obsidian Entertainment, Playground Games, Rare, The Coalition, The Initiative, Turn 10, Undead Labs, World’s Edge, and more. Sea of Thieves executive producer Joe Neate and Rare studio director Jim Horth will replace Duncan as the heads of Rare.”Alan’s career has been marked by innovation, dedication, and an unwavering passion for gaming,” Matt Booty told staff via email (via GI.biz).”Starting as a contractor at Microsoft in the fledgling CD-ROM group in 1988, Alan has worked on a variety of projects in his time here, from Age of Empires, to Brute Force as the studio head of Digital Anvil, to the founding of Turn 10. Over the years, Alan, Turn 10, and Playground Games delivered 13 Forza Motorsport and Forza Horizon games, building Forza into one of the top racing franchises in the world and regularly pushing the capabilities of our hardware. His work to advance accessibility in gaming has set a benchmark for the industry and under his leadership, Xbox Game Studios has shipped multiple critically acclaimed titles this year and set the stage for highly anticipated games like Avowed, South of Midnight, Fable, and more.”In other Xbox Game Studios news, 343 Industries has rebranded to Halo Studios, announcing that it’s retiring the Slipspace engine in favor of Unreal Engine 5.
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